Your Guide to Anything and Everything Boston

I always see people while I'm walking home, standing next to their car that they've just parked waving a dollar bill at passersby asking if they have quarters. It's a huge pain. Even when you think you're prepared, sometimes you accidentally run out and then you have to run around to a coffee shop or a sub shop to make change. This could change it all:

With a pay-by-phone system, Tobin said, drivers can send a text message to a phone number posted on a meter and begin paying for parking time by entering the meter number and the amount of time they need. Such cities as Las Vegas and Coral Gables, Fla., have implemented similar programs in recent years.More than $62 million in parking fines was collected by Boston officials in the fiscal year ended June 2007, and that figure is expected to reach about $77 million in the coming year, due to higher fines, additional parking officers on patrol, and the expansion of metered spaces.

Holy cow! Is the city sure that they want to make it easier for us to pay our parking meters? That's a huge revenue stream that they'd be cutting into if we're all able to do a better job paying our parking meters.

2 Response to "Pay For Parking WIth Your Cell Phone"

The Boston Parking Department has a proposal for a pay-by-phone solution and is evaluating it now. If you would like to see this deployed please pass your thoughts on to the Office of the Parking Clerk